More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Though I’m certain that’s true, I fail to understand how the priest would know that, considering my father hasn’t set foot in a church in at least a decade. He was, after all, a devout atheist. My father’s belief in God died the day my mother did.
she’d taken care of everything while I foolishly nodded along. I should’ve known better. There’s a reason my father cut her off, after all. A woman who would embezzle from the company my father put his blood, sweat and tears into, isn’t someone I should’ve trusted to honour his final wishes.
Dominic, my best friend,
Dominic’s mother, Mary, nods at me with tears in her eyes. The only thing getting me through this day is the Devereauxs. Without them, I’d truly be alone. I guess from today onwards, I really will be.
Who is going to hold my hand when life gets tough and make me the perfect cup of tea when I’m feeling down? My dad will never see me take his position as CEO and he will never walk me down the aisle. I’m not ready to say goodbye. There are too many things we still should’ve experienced together.
Daniel. Dominic’s older brother and my father’s co-CEO. If anyone is hurting as much as I am today, it’s him.
I wonder how long I’ll be able to hold on to this numbness. How long will I be able to hold the panic at bay?
An Aston Martin Vulcan in matte black. The only reason I know the name of the car is because my dad and Daniel picked it out together.
I didn’t think a couple of grand extra would’ve mattered, but according to my dad and Daniel, it did. The two of them shared a bond I’ve always been jealous of. At times I was certain Daniel was the child my dad wished he had instead of me.
“Will you take her?” Dominic asks. Daniel hesitates, and truthfully, I don’t want Dominic to leave me. I need him with me, now more than ever. I stare at him pleadingly, but his eyes are on his girlfriend, Lucy. She’s standing next to his mum with a sweet smile on her face.
“Must be some magic pussy for him to abandon his best friend on a day like this.”
The most emotion he ever shows is his perpetual boredom. His stoic expression has gotten him in to trouble more than once. I even vaguely recall one of his ex-girlfriends breaking up with him over it.
As my father’s sole heir, I’ll be inheriting his 26 percent shareholding in DM Consultancy; the parent company that stands at the top of our conglomerate empire. The Devereaux’s own 25 percent while the rest of the shares are distributed amongst other family members and early investors. So long as the Devereaux and Moriani families stay united, we’ll remain in absolute control.
To make things worse, the press has been writing scathing articles about the future of the company now that its visionary is gone. Many have expressed doubts about Daniel’s ability to run the company without my father, adding to the emotional turmoil he’s already feeling.
Daniel’s voice is loud and as always, when he speaks, people pay attention. Those who’d been falling over themselves to gain her favour hear the warning loud and clear.
Dominic hands me my favourite mug. It’s the one that says Boss Lady on it, and my heart breaks a little more. My dad gave it to me for my 22nd birthday a few weeks ago, telling me he was going to step up my training so I’d be ready to take over his role within a few years.
both of us have had to end relationships because our partners couldn’t accept our friendship. But Lucy is different. She’s been vocal about her dislike of me, and Dominic has been giving in to her. He’s been distancing himself from me lately. I can’t even remember the last time he and I were alone. Lucy and he are a package deal now.
Just as Lucy suspects, I do have feelings for Dominic. I’d never act on them or jeopardise his relationship, though. I wish he could see that.
She’s loud whereas he’s quiet, and she’s adorably silly whereas he is intelligent beyond compare. They don’t suit each other. Lucy is the type of person that neither of us has ever liked.
Sometimes I wonder if my dad was right about her when he called her a dimwit.
Dominic lost a father figure today, yet he’s wiping away her tears instead of shedding his own.
I look like an Oompa Loompa, with my overly full unfashionable curves and my petite stature. It’s no wonder Nic never fell for me the way I fell for him.
He stares at Lucy and Dominic disapprovingly as he takes a sip of my tea. Daniel usually ignores me, but I’m happy he’s showing me some solidarity today.
I didn’t have the energy to beg for a bit of consideration. He’s made it clear where I stand in his life now.
“Mr. Moriani is leaving the cottage in France to his mother. Everything else goes to his only daughter, Alyssa Moriani.”
She’s undoubtedly hatching some sort of plan.
“The clause states your shares are to be given to your grandmother unless you marry the man of your father’s choosing within a month from now.”
Oh she'll marry Daniel
If she gets her hands on those shares, she’ll run my father’s company to the ground. Everything Daniel and my dad have worked for will be for nothing.
“Your father’s wish is for you to marry Daniel. There isn’t anyone
“Lately your father had been making some strange remarks. He kept pushing me to take you out for dinner and continuously insinuated that he thought we’d make a good couple. I never expected this though.”
“You’re ten years older than me. And he knows. He knows I…”
The will clearly states that my father’s last wish is for me to marry Daniel and to continue my training to take over my dad’s role as CEO as soon as the board and Daniel deem me ready.
want to shout at him and ask him whether he’s lost his mind. I want to ask him what day and age he thinks we’re living in and why he doesn’t trust me enough. Why he feels the need to entrust me to Daniel, rather than trusting I can stand on my own two feet. But I can’t ask him any of those questions, because he’s gone. I’ll never get the answers I’m seeking.
He looks at me with a pained expression as his eyes trail down my body before he looks away. He clenches his teeth and inhales deeply. I’m suddenly overcome with an intense sense of rejection.
“He always wanted you as his son. I guess he’s getting his wish granted in death,” I say bitterly. I feel hurt, and part of me blames Daniel for what’s happening. He glances at me and starts pacing like I had been.
“We can do a paper marriage, Alyssa. We can both keep our lives. Nothing needs to change. You won’t have anything to worry about. We’ll have an iron-clad prenup, so you’ll be protected. Whatever you own, you’ll keep, including your shares. I won’t take advantage of you in any way. We’ll divorce in a year and you’ll have your estate and anything you might have earned during our marriage.”
“The two of you will have to live together and stay married until Alyssa either becomes CEO or turns twenty-five. If you two separate or divorce before then, the shares are still to be given away. We could potentially contest the will, but I’ll tell you now that I won’t be the one to take that case on. I won’t disrespect your father’s last wishes like that.”
I always thought my father loved his company more than he loved me, and this seems to prove it. What was he after when he wrote his will? He raised me to be independent, yet his last wish is for me to get married to a man I didn’t choose. A thousand questions flash through my mind, each making me feel worse than the last.
The last thing I need is to be saddled with a teenybopper for the next few years. However, I will marry you if you’re willing. Even if it’s just to honour your father’s last wish. He’s never asked anything of me before today and I won’t let him down now.”
Ok thats just rude now
“I guess there’s only one thing left to do.” He walks to me and drops down on one knee. I’m so startled that I freeze in disbelief. He grabs my hand and looks into my eyes with an intensity I’ve never seen before. “Alyssa Moriani, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?” he asks, his voice soft but clear.
I’m wearing a white knee-length dress with my favourite old nude stilettos that make my legs look endlessly long. I’m wearing blue underwear and borrowed Mary’s earrings. I’m not sure why I even bothered with the old tradition, but it just seemed wrong not to.
Daniel, who has always barely tolerated me. Daniel, who is ten years older than me and who is rumoured to have bedded half of London. I know this isn’t a real marriage, but my nerves are feeling pretty real.
The way he’s looking at me right now is how I’ve always wanted him to look at me. Granted, I rarely wear clothes that are this fitted, but still.
“Couldn’t it have been me? If all you had to do was marry a Devereaux, then why not me?” he asks, his voice breaking. I swallow hard as tears start to gather in my eyes.
Besides, you’ve got Lucy. I’d never ask something like this of you. I wouldn’t dare.” Dominic inhales deeply. “She’s not you, Alyssa. She’ll never be you.” I don’t know what to make of his words, and I don’t dare to hope anymore. Not now. Not when it’s already too late.
Dominic leans into me, his lips only an inch from mine. The energy between us sizzles with love, desire and heartache. He moves closer to me, millimetre by millimetre.
My eyes follow him as he turns and walks right out of the church instead of sitting in one of the pews. Daniel’s hand tightens on mine and I turn to look at him. His expression is carefully blank, but there’s a mocking smile on his lips. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, reminding myself of what I’m doing this for.
It seems like a big insulting joke to me to get married in the house of God against your will. I guess my father was right. If God truly existed, I wouldn’t have found myself standing here with the wrong Devereaux.
I turn back to Daniel, who is studying me intently, his expression unreadable. He’s basically a more rugged and taller version of Dominic. Where Dominic is still boyish in many ways, Daniel is all man. He fills his suit out nicely with muscles I know Dominic works for but has yet to achieve. Daniel’s attractiveness pisses me off more.
To me it feels like signing my own death sentence and I have to breathe in deeply before I can make myself do it. I stare at it in shock as both our witnesses sign as well. It’s done. I’ve officially become Mrs. Devereaux, just not how I imagined it.
